Since the year 1778, the stately Greenbrier has welcomed its posh clientèle to the leafy wilderness of West Virginia. Power brokers and those connected to the upper echelons of American society have been staying at the resort since the Revolutionary War, drawn by the healing Sulphur Springs, peaceful scenery and plush accommodations. And to this day, the rooms suggest the colonial era – with four poster beds, fireplaces and antique detail.
Lately, however, the decidedly old school resort has been trying to bring itself into the twenty-first century and reach out to a younger market. Guests can enjoy spa treatments, family weekends and cooking classes (gasp! Can you imagine what a upper class colonial matron would think of that?) along with more traditional pleasures like golf and horseback riding.
Best of all, however, is the bunker. Drawn by the area’s isolation and its relative proximity to DC (and possibly the good golf courses), the legislative branch built its Cold War-era bunker right near the Greenbrier, and today guests can tour the fascinating historic site.
Now, given its focus on luxury amenities, country-club ambiance, dress codes and general snootiness, I had to ask myself is the Greenbrier actually cool? Well, it’s cool in the way that Bob Schieffer is cool – so unconcerned with being cool and so firmly planted in its own milieu, that it’s definitely cool. Plus, fall out shelters have their own retro-cool cache. And if snootiness made a hotel un-cool, then every single chic urban boutique hotel would be off the list.
